Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies has revealed how its victorious Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix was a way of repaying its personnel back at Milton Keynes after a tough 2025 season.
The team secured its third win of the season with Max Verstappen‘s dominant showing at Monza, the first Grand Prix it’s claimed since the departure of Christian Horner.
It has doubtlessly been a huge task for Mekies, in more than one way, since taking the helm of the team after the British Grand Prix in July.
With Horner an omnipresence since its inception in 2005, and the disappointment that 2025 has brought with a comparative lack of success, Mekies has taken over at a relatively low ebb.
It was also Verstappen’s first win since confirming he would be remaining with the squad after a summer of speculation pointing towards a switch to rivals Mercedes.
The Dutchman’s links to the German marque cast further shadows over the team during what was already quite a trying time for all involved.
And the Frenchman paid tribute to the hard-working Red Bull staff back at its base, saying the victory is really a vindication of the effort they are putting in.
“You know, in this sort of moment you think to the team back in Milton Keynes, the tough start of the season,” Mekies told media including Motorsport Week.
“When things are not working the way you would like them to work, when you are missing that ultimate pace, you question everything.
“That’s the way we are, that’s the way the competition is. You question everything and what is great in the team is that they kept an open mind.
“They did question everything in a very constructive way. And it’s a lot of hard work and you don’t always get the positive feedback from the tracks as what we got today.
“So the thoughts are very much with everyone in Milton Keynes that have been pushing so hard not to give up.
Mekies concluded that Verstappen’s victory was “very much giving them back the credit of many weeks, many months of hard work in the dark.”
Red Bull risk-taking all part of learning process to win again – Mekies
Another Grand Prix win seemed inconceivable just a few weeks ago, after a horror show at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Verstappen laboured to a seventh-place finish.
In fact, such was the lack of competitiveness shown from its RB21 car, Verstappen stated his belief it would not cross the line first again at any remaining Grand Prix this season.
But Mekies puts down the turnaround down to “risks” being taken which, if they don’t work out, are part of a learning process that enables them how to get back to winning ways.
“We take risks to get to the maximum understanding possible of what has limited the project this year,” he said.
“And we took risks in Budapest, and it was an extremely poor weekend. Hence, Max comments, fair enough, because we put our drivers in difficult situations.
“But we do that to learn. We are getting some payback today. Again, we know how specific the track layout is here. So it’s good learning.
“The extent of the learning, we will see where it takes us in the next few races.”
READ MORE – The McLaren Achilles’ heel that Red Bull exposed with surprise F1 Italian GP dominance
Discussion about this post